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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Hello Fresh

39 replies

ElderMillennial · 11/06/2021 20:47

We have had HF for the past 3 weeks. I cancelled from this week because I wasn't really excited about any of the food choices for next week.

Today I was cooking one of the meals ans noticed the broccoli was very yellow. We wouldn't usually eat it that way.

I then went to use the green beans from another meal and they were mouldy. They looked like they were growing cotton wool.

I have reported it on the app and it says £5 credit will be applied to my account. I don't really want to buy from them again now.

Has anyone else had this and does this seem fair?

Luckily we had some cabbage in the fridge so I cooked that instead of the broccoli but we would have used that for a different meal.

OP posts:

jcoc147 · 11/06/2021 20:53

I had the same issues with hello fresh, ingredients not at all as fresh as they should be or missing completely from the box!
I got so fed up I switched to Gousto which I have had no issues with and the meal choices are 10x better.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 11/06/2021 20:54

Gousto is yummy!

HotChocolateLover · 11/06/2021 20:57

This was the exact reason we cancelled HF. We loved the convenience but I thought the food was anything but fresh.

CatherineCawood · 11/06/2021 20:57

I've had one Hello Fresh delivery. The food was delicious and plentiful. However, some of the fresh herbs were mush, and some minor ingredients missing along with a recipe sheet so i had to look it up.

Apart from that it was tasty.

ScottishNewbie · 11/06/2021 21:04

My very first Hello Fresh box had a pepper so rotten it had oozed it's juices all over the other veggies. It's absolutely impossible that the packer didn't notice, as it was so far gone.

I have however used Gousto for ages and it has been impeccable every time.
I find the recipes much more flavourful and easy to follow. The meat quality is much better also. Best prawns we have ever tasted!

Original poster

ElderMillennial · 11/06/2021 21:06

We have had Gousto before and liked that. I don't remember having these issues.

Thought I'd try HF this time and some of the recipes are quite good but I'm disappointed with the quality!

OP posts:

Motleyvegetables · 11/06/2021 21:31

We stopped getting hello fresh due to poor quality and ingredients regularly being missing from the boxes. Like you, we felt disappointed as the recipes were good. We were offered money off the next purchase however, the third or fourth time we had an issue we just cancelled instead.

Rmka · 11/06/2021 21:37

We had the same issue with HF, one time it was so bad that we got the whole next box for free.

We switched to Gousto which is cheaper, healthier and much more reliable.

Original poster

ElderMillennial · 11/06/2021 21:42

Sounds like it happens a lot!

You think Gousto is cheaper @Rmka? I thought HF was quite a bit cheaper last time I compared.

OP posts:

FirstTimeMummy2021 · 11/06/2021 21:45

Had multiple issues with HF - delayed deliveries, missing ingredients and even out of date meat. We had switched from Gousto but soon switched back!

Zippea · 11/06/2021 21:50

I had quality issues with the fresh ingredients from HF every tim and ended up cancelling it. I got it again on a very special offer and it hadn’t improved so cancelled it again

Rmka · 11/06/2021 22:25

@ElderMillennial, yes Gousto is cheaper, but maybe you have an offer on HF?

Having said that HF made so many mistakes that overall we probably spent slightly less, but we had to constantly shop for missing and mouldy ingredients. Not very convenient.

ByTheSeaCatsandAll · 11/06/2021 22:29

We had our second HF delivery this week and had chicken missing and one completely wrong meal. I went on the online chat and said I wasn’t happy with credit and they offered to refund the amount to my credit card instead.

Original poster

ElderMillennial · 11/06/2021 22:42

We have an offer on HF but we had them years ago and Gousto was more expensive then when they were on full price

Also not keen on so many of the chicken recipes having chicken thighs rather than breasts

And quite a lot of the recipes cost extra. Steak and lamb I can understand but some of the others like street food and burgers.

OP posts:

LBOCS2 · 11/06/2021 22:47

We've been using HF for about 2 years, off and on, and they've definitely gone downhill. The food is less fresh, the portions seem to be quite a lot smaller, and now you have to pay extra for pretty much anything with meat in it. We're going to cancel permanently, they keep giving us money off and it still doesn't seem worth it any more.

StaffRepFeistyClub · 11/06/2021 22:54

We have tried HF and Gusto. Great idea but we don't bother now. Used HF then swapped to Gusto. Every other week there was something missing from one of the Gusto meals.

We gave up when there was no fish for the kedgeree. We were offered a £3 discount but that is not good enough if the main ingredient is missing

nc8765 · 11/06/2021 22:56

I love HF. Been using it for about 6 months now!

HerRoyalNotness · 11/06/2021 23:03

I find the recipes repetitive and dislike the up charges to get steak or salmon for eg. One week I was missing the pork for a dish. I had the box in the garage and thought maybe I’d missed unpacking it, but nope, they hadn’t sent it. Couldn’t be bothered complaining. Then I forgot to cancel and had just skipped weeks instead and another box turned up last week. Finally cancelled now. I did use it weekly for about 18mths a couple of years ago but got sick of the menus and the cost

Original poster

ElderMillennial · 12/06/2021 10:03

Sometimes the instructions don't make sense either. We had one where there was an ingredient listed but it didn't feature in the recipe instructions.

I think we had something missing too but can't remember what it was.

I just think the price is too high for four recipes when bits are missing or the veg is past it's best when it arrives.

And tbh £5 credit is a bit pointless when I don't think I'll be buying from them again, at least for a while!

OP posts:

LadyCatStark · 12/06/2021 10:09

Hello Fresh has gone downhill in the last few weeks. We had a box with 2 meats and various other ingredients missing. They did eventually refund to our card as it was obvious it wasn’t good enough and we’d given up on them. We’ve gone back to Gousto and it’s much better. I also found that Hello Fresh offer only the choice of chicken or mince and occasional fish. Even recipes that should use diced beef/ pork etc just used mince as it’s cheap but who wants to eat mince every day?

Original poster

ElderMillennial · 12/06/2021 12:52

In the last three weeks that we've got it, they had a few steak and lamb recipes plus one had venison but you had to pay extra.

OP posts:

SoddingWeddings · 15/06/2021 15:14

I ordered a HF box a few days weeks ago ago when someone posted a code, but tbh it's nowhere near as good as the Gousto boxes. We've had Gousto on and off since 2019, and now have them fortnightly to takes some pressure off me first all the planning, shopping and cooking as DH is a genuinely crap cook unless you like packet-based chilli, bolognese or a corned beef hash made with tinned potatoes (and I don't!). This way he's learning more about cooking and I get a night off.

If anyone is looking to try Gousto though, their intro offer is 60% off your first box and then 30% off any boxes ordered in the first month. And I get £20 credit 😁 cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promo_code=ALLIS33205208&utm_source=androidapp

SlipperTripper · 15/06/2021 15:44

I cancelled HF a few weeks ago and switched to Gousto.

I'd had four weeks on the trot where major ingredients (the primary carbs or meat) had been missing from meals, and the straw that broke the camels back was a box that had missing meat or veg for every single meal - four meals, buggered! (Obviously raided the freezer and veg drawer and made it work, but still!)

Gousto have been far better, and the welcome discount has made it really good value so far. Love the store cupboard option too!

DinaofCloud9 · 15/06/2021 15:47

Ive not used HF but I've never had a problem with Gousto.

Okbye · 15/06/2021 15:51

We stopped using Hello Fresh for this very reason. Ingredients were almost always on the turn or borderline. We use Gousto now where quality is much better 😃

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